ECP adjourns Murad Saeed’s Senate seat case till 23rd

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has adjourned till this month’s 23rd the case involving the Senate seat that fell vacant after the electoral body first disqualified PTI’s Murad Saeed from his legislative membership in consequence of a court verdict, announced by-poll on the said seat, but then postponed this election to decide on the legality of Saeed’s disqualification. During the proceedings of this case on Tuesday, the petitioner’s counsel appeared before a three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. No one from any of the candidates for by-poll on the said seat appeared before the bench. The case was then adjourned till June 23. On April 21, in an allegedly controversial move, the electoral body postponed the by-election on the said Senate seat on an application moved by a Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker, only two days before the said by-poll was scheduled on April 23. “The matter requires detailed discussion and assistance, therefore, the office is directed to issue notices to all the contesting candidates and necessary parties for appearance and assistance on the question of law raised by the applicant, ” read a written order issued by the ECP bench on April 21 after hearing an application moved by Jalal Khan, the Member Provincial Assembly (MPA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who belongs to PML-N. During the hearing of the case, the petitioner, along with his counsel, appeared before the ECP bench to argue that the electoral body’s decision to declare as vacant the aforementioned Senate was not legally valid keeping in view that Saeed had not taken oath as a senator from the said seat in the first place. “In the present case, no lawful vacancy has ever existed because Murad Saeed never took oath, nor entered upon office, therefore, he never became a member of the Senate in the constitutional sense, ” argued the counsel. The ECP bench accepted the petition, and the matter is since pending. It is worth mentioning here that PTI fielded Irfan Saleem for April 23 by-election. Regarded as a loyalist of PTI founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Saleem is rated as a potential contender for the aforementioned Senate slot keeping in view the PTI’s strength in the KP provincial legislature. Allegedly, the ECP’s decision to postpone the by-election aimed at blocking Saleem’s way to the Upper House of the Parliament. On March 7, this year, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi handed Saeed a 10-year sentence in the May 9 riots case. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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